gpa-gone-west wrote:Well I will finish watching series 1 of American Gods, but it hasn't convinced me yet (4 episodes in).

If a show does not grab me by ep2 I'm out, as there are so many other shows to see

I have the same policy more or less, and yet there are shows I didn't enjoy at first that I stuck with that turned out to be excellent. It worries me that I could be giving up on shows like Parks and Rec, which had a godawful first season and then found its feet in season 2. Like you say, though, so many shows to watch and not enough time to watch them all. A strong opener is now more crucial than ever.

The Expanse failed to grab me initially, but it's quickly turning into one of my favourite sci-fi shows. The second series appeared on Netflix at the end of last week and we've watched the first three episodes of that so far and loved every minute of it.

Started Tin Star at the weekend. After episode one I thought it was going to be a cool little thriller with a great performance from Tim Roth, after episode 2 I had completely turned around and thought it was a cliched mess. I don't think I've turned so hard on a TV show.

Forged in Fire - right, this is absolute armchair garbage but it is good garbage!

Shown on History, Kodi and Torrents, it is basically a competition for bladesmiths - 4 at a time - to make blades. First make the basics from some materials, with the worst example going home. Then finish it, make it a proper knife, and have it go through some tests (usually brutal). Worst goes home. Then the last two get tasked with making a specific historical weapon - katana, cutlass, battleaxe etc, with a different weapon being in each episode. 5 days to make it then back for some more brutal testing.

The best thing about it is Doug Marcaida, a cheerful psychotic Mr Miyagi who happens to be an edged weapons specialist. He is incapable of handling any edged implement without some swooshy knife-fighting moves, but best of all is 'the kill test'. In this, the usual recipient of Doug uber-violence is a ballistics dummy - basically a mocked up translucent human torso, which ol' Doug goes batshit crazy on. Afterwards, he pokes around into lacerated bellies, broken bones etc before making the pronouncement "It will kill" (pronounced keeeeeell) with a happy, cheery smile.

I am probably way behind the curve, it has been on for 4 seasons now, but if you haven't watched it, are interested in weapons and their making (which is really interesting) and want a chuckle at Psycho Doug, you could do so much worse.

Snowy wrote:Forged in Fire - right, this is absolute armchair garbage but it is good garbage!

Shown on History, Kodi and Torrents, it is basically a competition for bladesmiths - 4 at a time - to make blades. First make the basics from some materials, with the worst example going home. Then finish it, make it a proper knife, and have it go through some tests (usually brutal). Worst goes home. Then the last two get tasked with making a specific historical weapon - katana, cutlass, battleaxe etc, with a different weapon being in each episode. 5 days to make it then back for some more brutal testing.

The best thing about it is Doug Marcaida, a cheerful psychotic Mr Miyagi who happens to be an edged weapons specialist. He is incapable of handling any edged implement without some swooshy knife-fighting moves, but best of all is 'the kill test'. In this, the usual recipient of Doug uber-violence is a ballistics dummy - basically a mocked up translucent human torso, which ol' Doug goes batshit crazy on. Afterwards, he pokes around into lacerated bellies, broken bones etc before making the pronouncement "It will kill" (pronounced keeeeeell) with a happy, cheery smile.

I am probably way behind the curve, it has been on for 4 seasons now, but if you haven't watched it, are interested in weapons and their making (which is really interesting) and want a chuckle at Psycho Doug, you could do so much worse.

Yep I'm up to date with this and absolutely love it tbh. Knifemaking, especially bushcraft related, is a thing of mine, as is backyard blacksmithing; so this is right up my street. It is a tough job getting steel heat treated and tempered right, especially if the type of steel is unknown (there are a multitude of steel types each with specific temperature and soak time regimes for maximum hardness and edge strength, it is a true art) Doug is a legend.